Closure for steam sterilizers



1 Jul 3,1945. BRAMSO 2,379,473

CLOSURE FOR STEAM STERI'LIZERS Fi led Sept. 28, 1945 Famed y 3, 1945 CLOSURE FOR STEAM s'rnaltrzlias Maurice Bramson, Brooklyn, N.;Y. H t v Application September 28, 1943, Serial No. 504,101" a (01. 220- 36) 5110 "Claims.

,The present invention relates :to closures for steam sterilizers, more particnlarlyto those of the, type used in connection with hospital ,Ql ratingrooms, ,Q Q f j Sterilizers of the type to whichfth'e present invention relates; generally. have a large circular opening in 'a ring setinto the end wall of a cylin- 'drical drum and'havi'ng an inwardly 'f acing seat, and the door-is in the form of a disk disposedinside the sterilizer'and provided'with aconical' [mating face, so that when the door is open access "may be had to to the interior of the sterilizer, and, when the door isclosed and steam pressureap- I plied, pressure against the inner face of the door holds'the seats in close contact.

" The present; invention contemplates the employmentof an arm on a vertical shaft'piv'oted in the top of the sterilizer'drum and connected to th doorto swing it back and forth over aricuate track, The armfhas a lost'motion connection with the door so that it may swing freely,,and the arm is resilient so as to exert "mechanical pressure on the door when opposite the" seat, whereby the door is held closedsufiiciently tight to avoid the escape of steam vapors while the pressure is being built 1.11). f The track is also pref jerably sloping and the door has 'a' stud'eXtending through a vertically elongatedsl'ot in the arm.

' Other and further objects will hereinafter appear as the description proceeds;

' 'The] accompanying drawing shows, for pur poses of illustrating the present invention, an embodiment inwhiclr the invention may take form, it being understood that the drawing :is illustrative of the'invention rather than "limiting the 'same.. I In the'drawing:

Figure lis'a perspectiveview'of'the sterilizer withthe doorpartly open; I v

' Figure2is a horizontal sectional View on the line 2-2015 Figure lshowingthedoor closed'in ,"full'lines and showing the door fully open in dotted lines Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views on f the line 3--3 of Figure 2, the door beingopen in Figure 3 and closed in Figure 4; and' 'Figure'fi is a fragmentary'sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 3;

"The sterilizer I!) has the usual horizontal lindricaldrum with inner and outer walls 1 I and f l2 respectively, a closed rear end (not shown) "and ajfront end wall l3 carrying a ring pro- 'videdwith an inwardly facing conicalcseat I5.

rhea-00 1; l6 which'closes theopening 'injthe ring 14 has 'a conical seat [1* on its outer surface adapted to mate with the conical seat-ion the rin as usual. s

The novel arrangement herein for, operating the door to open and closed positions includes a shaft 20 extending through'the top ofthe drum at a suitable distance from the front end of the sterilizer, proYidedwith anqexternal handle 2 and an enclosedppreferablyarc, shaped, arm 22 which extends down to they center of the door..

The door [B has a rearwardlya extending threaded stud 23 which passes through a ver tically elongated aperture 24 in the lower free end of the arm 22, A-bearing washer25is placed on the stud ahead of the arm and accidental sepa;

ration of the parts is prevented by a cap nutjj26 threaded on to the stud. This cap nut may, if vdesired, be secured to, the stud by a pin 2T.

I The ring [4 has arearwardly e rtendingllugJ30 at the bottom, and to this lug, is secure'dlth'e' front end 3| of an areuate trackfl. Q'Ifhe rear end}; of this track is secured to the innefwall' of the drum., The inner end of the track is preferably at a higher elevation than the frorit endgi rhis track is of channel shaped cross; section as will be apparent fromFigure Thetrack receives the peripheral edgeor rim34' of the door.

The weight ofthe door is'a't all times taken by the track 32. When the door is in the full open position, as indicated in Figures 3 and 5, and inthe dotted lin position-of Figure'2, the stud 23 is near the top of the'slot 24, and, while the door cannot separate from the stud, it is held somewhat loosely, that is to say it can be twisted somevWhat abouta vertical, axis through thejcenter of the door when in this position and can be tilted back and forth to some extent; While it is supported by the track it floats somewhat freely on the arm. Ordinarily there is a substantial space between the washer 25 and the adjacent end of the arm; "This space is indicated'at 35 in When the, door isin'the fullopen position the edge or rim of the door is, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2', close to the conical face of the fixed ring l4. When the door is to be shifted from full open position to closed position the arm 22 moves to "bring the right hand side of" the slot (Figure 3), against the stud and 'then the door rolls along the track, and asthe track slopes the door lowers and the closing isrendered easy. The edge of the" door, travels a1ong ,;the. path indicated by the 'dotand dash'i'line 36' 0f Figure When the edge of the doorhas'reachedabout the point marked X in Figure 2 theseating arm extending efmm the surface I! of the door comes into engagement with the seating surface of the ring at one point and from there on in the closin movement the path of the door is determined by the wiping action of these two surfaces, and the parts are so proportioned that the periphery of the door passes in by the seat as the door is brought to full closed position. During this movement the door has been compelled to move toward the axis of the shaft 20.,and now instead of having a space 35 betweenthe'ldoor and thearm 22 the door has pressed back against the arm, and, as

the arm is yieldable, has flexed the arm slightly I so that considerable mechanical pressure exists between the door and the fixed ring. There is now a gap at 31 between the arm ,22 .and the nut 26 and the stud 23 is in the lowerpart of the slot. In order to prevent .mdving the door past closed position a stop 38 is carried by the ring l4.

It will thus be seen. that. .the pr sent ,invention provides a closure arrangement for'sterilizers of this :character in which theeopening and elosing movement :of ther.door.is effected by :8: Suitably located external-handle Theidoor is always heldsecurely in position and is not lilr'ely to gloosen -or shift from thisposition, and it can be readily fastened in the closed position for shipment. I he arm 22 occupies nootherwise useful space in the sterilizer, as it is out oi the way when the door is open so that there'is nothing :to interfere with "inserting and removin objectaand when in the closed position it is well in front of any objects which may have been put into the sterilizer. I

Since it isobvious that-"the invention may be embodied-in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, -I -wish it to be under- .stoodthatthe particular 'form shown is but one of these forms, and -various'"-modifica'-tions and.

changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any; way with respect thereto.-

,What'is claimed is: V 1. Ina steam sterilizer having-fa steam tight body and an end wall carrying-a ring Edisposed lbelow the top of the b ocly and, laterally of the side ,of the' body, the ring being a vertical plane to define an opening and having an 1'11- wardly facing conical seat; aclosure having a ,mating conical face'and a rim adjacent the" conical faceof larger diameter than the conical face, and a fixed track extending; laterally of the opening along which 'therim of the'closure may roll 'when'th'e closurefis'moyed to tand ffrom the .closed'position, the improvement according to" which the closure has an .inwandly extending central stud, the top .Qf the body carriesa vertically' rotatable, inwardly prdtrngdiug' shaft mounted to the rear/of the center of th ring and carrying an externally accessible "operator for turning .the sham-and units lowerend an haitrtdw r -the. lq u and having its lowerv endgprovided with aqsl whichjreceives the stud soit hat'the turningT-o the shaft heck I and, forth wil wins the arm back and forth and bringiorie Qr';the-,O li1Q the 3. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein the stud has a nut which is spaced from the inner face of the arm when the closure is seated whereby the stud may shift back and forth in the aperture when the closure is unseated and the closure may then be relatively loose.

4. The improvement claimed in claim 1, whereexerts pressure onthe inner face of the closure when brought to the closed position to hold the closure face against the seat. I

6. A steam sterilizer having a horizontal cylin drical body with a fixedend wall having .a large opening in a vertical plane about which .istan internal seat, and an arcuate track extending from ,belowthe center of the Opening about the .end wall and secured to the inside of the body, the tracksloping upwardly toward said body, an arm disposed inside the sterilizer body 1and pivoted thereto to swing about a vertical axis in the vertical axial plane of .thebody, the lower'en'd of the arm having .a vertical slot and the arm being shaped to have its lower end swing 'fromLa ,posi- .tion slightly to the rear of the. opening toward the side of the sterilizer body, and an annular closure having a rearwardly extending stud extending through the slot in the arm and carrying an abutment which presses the closure against the seat.

7. In .a, sterilizer of the like, a sterilizer body having a :circular opening in a Vertical lane, a circular closure for the opening, the closure being disposed inside the. body larger than the opening and having .an inwardly extending axialstud, a fixedarcuate track with which the closure edge is in rolling engagement ,ihmovingbetweh open and closed position and slopingso that the closure is at a lower elevation when-closed than when open,'an arm ,pivotally supported in thebody 'to swing about a vertical axis to .the rear of thefcenter of the opening and substantially vcoincident with the center of curvature of the .arcuate track, and means interconnecting the free-end pr t e armand ,thestud for ,exertingio'rce onthemosure for moving it ,back and forth-said means including a self-accommodating driving connection which compensates for the differences inelevation of the-stud and armsupport; r

8. In a'sterilizer'or the .like,.a ,sterilizer'body having ,a circular opening in a vertical plane," a circular closure for the .opening, the 'closurebeing .di pDsed inside the ho ly larger than theopen- :maximum radius .of the arm being such .thatthe arm bears against the closure wh n nethefi fi fi position topress it against the seat, the armand closure having horizontal lost motion so that the unseated closure is carried loosely.

9. The improvement in sterilizers or the like wherein the body of the sterilizer has a circular opening of smaller diameter than its horizontal width, the opening being in a vertical planeand having an inwardly facing seat, comprising a disk shaped closure for the opening disposed within the body, a closure supporting track inside the sterilizer body and extending laterally from the bottom of the opening in a path arcuate about a vertical axis disposed inwardly of the center of the opening and sloping upwardly so that the closure is at a, higher elevation when shifted away from the opening along said track, an arm pivoted about said axis, and means interconnecting the free end of the arm and the closure for exerting force on the closure for moving it back and forth along the track, said means including a selfaccommodating driving connection which compensates for the differences in elevation of the closure and arm support.

10. In combination, a fixed vertical ring having on its inner face an outwardly flaring conical seat, an annular closure disk having a mating conical face and a rim larger in diameter than the conical face, a fixed substantially horizontal arcuate track of upwardly opening channel shaped cross section extending away from the bottomof the ring and along which the .rim rolls as the elosure moves toward and away'from the seat, the

curvature of the track being such that as the rim rolls along it the rim remains close to the seat on the ring, an arm pivoted about a fixed vertical axis at approximately the center of curvature of the track and having an aperture at its lower end through which an axially disposed stud on the disk extends there being lost motion axially of the MAURICE BRAMSON. 

